Certain types of articles, such as containers of food or beverage, are commonly sold both as individual units and in a multi-container package. Each article is normally marked with a pricing bar code to enable it to be scanned and automatically checked at a retail outlet when sold as an individual item. When groups of articles are packaged in conventional open-ended wrap-around carriers, errors can occur if the scanner sees the pricing code on one of the articles and uses that as the price for the entire package instead of the code on the package itself. One way to prevent this from happening is to package the articles in a completely enclosed carton or carrier. However, this is more expensive compared to a wrap-around carrier due to the greater amount of paperboard used in a completely enclosed carrier.
It is desirable to provide wrap-around carriers with end panels of a size sufficient to cover the pricing code on the end articles in the package. Such a design utilizes less paperboard than a fully enclosed carrier and is more economical to produce. Typically, a partial end panel is designed to cover pricing codes located near the bottom of the article and comprises only a short end panel extending up from the bottom panel of the carrier. Ideally, the end panel should be large enough to cover the pricing code of the end articles, should not interfere with the normal fabrication and packaging methods of wrap-around carriers, and should be secure in place after being formed. Preferably, the end panel arrangement should also resist any tendency of the end articles to fall out of the package.
In recent years, a carton manufacturer has manufactured and marketed a carton in Europe having a decorative web extending between and foldably connected to its side panels. However, the web is not reliable for preventing unwanted scanning of bar codes on the articles contained in the carton due in part to the position and size of the web. Moreover, the web can be pulled out of position easily, completely destroying any capability of blocking a bar code. In this regard it is noted that the web attaches to the side panels along fold lines that are positioned substantially exteriorly of the articles contained in the carton and extend at an oblique angle relative to the centerlines of the articles. The attachment arrangement also contributes to the instability of the web.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,536 of Sutherland discloses a wrap-around carrier with bar code blocking means in which small partial end panels extend up from the bottom panel for covering the bar codes on the end articles in the package. The partial end panels are each locked in place by gusset panels. The partial end panels are not connected to each other, but are separate items. While the '536 patent represents a noteworthy advance in the art, it yet leaves room for improvement in that additional strength would be desirable in the end panel to better keep the end articles from falling out of the carrier and in that a solution which uses less paperboard would be desirable (to create an end panel of a given height, the '536 patent adds 150% of that height to each side of the carrier blank).
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need yet remains for a wrap-around carrier with a bar code blocking means which reliably obscures the product code, which holds products securely in the carrier, and which uses a minimal amount of paperboard. It is to the provision of such a wrap-around carrier that the present invention is primarily directed.